East Arkansas congressional race debate highlights divide over Iran war

The war in Iran was a contentious topic for candidates vying for Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District seat during an Arkansas TV debate Wednesday that also included discussions of tariffs and rural healthcare. 

Democrat Terri Yarbrough Green and Libertarian Steve Parsons are challenging U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, who’s seeking a ninth term representing a district spanning 31 counties in eastern Arkansas. 

Crawford, who was first elected in 2010 and chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said he believed Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon and supported President Donald Trump taking action, even though the war has led to higher fuel prices. 

“Nobody wants to pay this price, but we also don’t want a nuclear-armed Iran,” Crawford said. 

Parsons said the United States needs “to stop being the puppet of Israel” and end the Iran war to get fuel and fertilizer back to the country. Parsons also noted Israel was the United States’ primary ally in the conflict.

“That’s a terrible sign, and a part I don’t like that because Israel is the one that in Gaza killed 20,000 children,” he said, citing a number from a United Nations panel. 

Crawford questioned the number of deaths and noted more than 1,000 Israelis were killed in an unprovoked attack in October 2023 that led to the Israel-Hamas war. 

“I’m not antisemitic like the gentleman on the end here,” Crawford said.

Parsons argued complaining about those deaths “is absolutely not an antisemitic statement, but it is a statement about Israel.”

Green agreed Iran has been a threat, mainly to Israel, and noted other countries have chosen diplomacy because they knew Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz. The move has restricted the flow of oil, increasing gas prices worldwide. 

“I think this war was started on a whim and it was not initiated, like the Constitution insists, agreed upon by Congress,” she said. “And I think Congress needs to take its power back and say, ‘no.’”

Green also criticized Congress for not pushing back against Trump’s tariffs, like those imposed on Canada. While tariffs applied meaningfully can be useful, most of the president’s tariffs have been imposed “willy nilly,” Green said.

“His decisions on who to impose a tariff on has more to do with ego, whims, who he can extort for something he wants,” she said. 

Parsons, a retired economist and consultant, said tariffs are inherently bad if they’re generically applied. 

Tariffs are a tax on American businesses, Parsons said. Oftentimes businesses have to obtain components for their products outside the U.S., and majority of those costs are passed on to consumers, he said. 

Crawford argued tariffs are neither good nor bad, they’re a tool. While his opponents were critical of Trump’s tariffs, Crawford noted the Biden administration kept Section 232 tariffs that were “essential to protect the U.S. steel industry.” 

Mississippi County, located in Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District, is the largest steel-producing county in the country. Industry leaders have said the industry surged after Trump imposed tariffs on China in his first term.

One industry that has struggled throughout the district and Arkansas is healthcare. Access to healthcare in rural areas has decreased as facilities close or cut back services due to increasing costs and low reimbursement rates. 

Green, a retired pathologist, said rural hospitals are closing because of Medicaid cuts. She noted Crawford supported the One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax and spending cut legislation Trump signed last year that’s expected to reduce federal spending on Medicaid by about $1 trillion during the next decade to help pay for tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy. 

If elected, Green said she would reverse the cuts, expand Medicare and Medicaid, and have a commission study ways to decrease the bureaucracy involved with the programs so hospitals wouldn’t need a separate department to fight denials. 

“That’s a waste of patients’ money,” Green said. 

Fuel prices, tariffs weigh heavily in east Arkansas’ US House race

Crawford rejected the assertion that he supported Medicaid cuts.

“What we’ve been trying to do is prevent spending a trillion dollars a year and lower the trajectory on Medicaid spending so we can reduce costs and deliver better value to Arkansans who need help,” he said. 

Crawford also blamed the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, for problems with Medicaid and Medicare. Under the policy, Crawford said private insurers won’t reimburse higher than the rate prescribed by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

“That’s what’s killed private insurance, and that’s why those hospitals are suffering,” he said. 

Parsons said he would like to study how the reimbursement rate formula allows states to receive different amounts for the same procedure.

Parsons recommended Medicaid block grants — a fixed sum of money from the federal government — instead of matching grants. He said a variety of regulations, such as certificate of need requirements, should be cut. Parsons also called for limits on lawsuits against medical providers.

“A lot of medical procedures are done because the medical professional is concerned about lawsuits,” he said. “And this is, let’s be clear, the United States is the lawsuit capital of the world.”